Supports



J. J. SLOYAN Sept. 11, 1956 SUPPORTS Filed Sept. 27, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 7.17- 54 074M I l llllllllg ||l| Sept. 11, 1956 J. .1. SLOYAN 2,

SUPPORTS Filed Sept. 27, 1949 s sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Sept. 11, 1956 J. J. SLOYAN 2,762,663

SUPPORTS Filed Sept. 27. 1949 s Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR J1 51.0mm

ATTORNE United States l 'atent O SUPPORTS Jerome J. Sloyan, Bloomfield, N. J.

Application September 27, 1949, Serial No. 117,999

2 Claims. (Cl. 308-6) This invention relates to slidable supports and more.

particularly to that type wherein a carriage is provided having limited movement longitudinally of a track or rail. The invention has utility in association with various instrumentalities of diverse character of which reciprocating tables for milling machines, typewriter carriages, motor supports, gun recoil mounts and other devices will sufiice as illustrative, and of which the motor support has been arbitrarily selected for purpose of specific showing in the accompanying drawings. The essential characteristic of the support of the present invention common to'the numerous uses, is that the movable portion or carriage has linear movement within maximum limits and must slide with minimum friction throughout the pre-.

scribed range of its permitted reciprocation. The invention contemplates structure of a character to accomplish the stated desideratum to best advantage, with minimum bulk, but with the objective of capability of free operation under severe load conditions and ready response .to sudden and quick shifts of load or position of the carriage on the rails. Other objects of the invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art to which it appertains as the description proceeds, both by direct recitation thereof and by implication from the context.

In further reference to the selected embodiment for illustrating one of the many uses for the invention, it may be opportune to recall that motor driven instrumentalities are frequently belt driven and tension of the belt or'adjustment of the belt for purpose of speed differential are often provided. For instance, there is on the market and popularly used, a variable speed drive using a Vshaped belt with pulleys correspondingly grooved, but of which one, and usually the driving pulley, is constructed in such manner that its pitch diameter can be varied at will without stopping the motor. That pulley is essentially two cones or frustums of cones axially aligned and spring loaded to keep the groove formed thereby for belt engagement of maximum pitch diameter, but with the cones adapted to he slid one from the other by tension applied to the belt wedging the belt deeper between the cones and thus obtaining belt engagement at a less diametrical distance from the cone axis. The wedging of the belt is accomplished by displacing the motor further from the driven instrumentality. It is consequently essential that the motor may be moved readily since the speed control of the driven instrumentality is a function of motor location and change of location of the driving and driven pulleys with respect to each other. In the numerous installations utilizing the variable drive construction above described, there is a need for rapidity and ease of operation which the present invention supplies. Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention on which is carried a motor having belt drive to a driven instru-' mentality;

2,762,663 Patented Sept. 11, 1956 Figures 7 to 19 inclusive, are cross sectional views showing various configurations of rails and glider assemblies for carriage support and retention;

Figure 20 is a longitudinal elevation of a rail and section of the carriage showing a detail of lubricantretaining and dust-excluding means;

Figures 21 and 22 are cross-sections of Fig. 20 on lines XXI-XXI and XXII-XXII, respectively;

- Figure 23 is a sectional plan of a portion of rail and glider showing a modified lubricant-retaining construction;

, Figure 24 is a sectional elevation of Fig. 23; and

Figure 25 is a cross-section on line XXV-XXV of Fig. 24.

As an arbitrarily selected exemplification of the invention in one use thereof the general organization of Figures 1 to 3, inclusive, illustrates an electric motor 30 driving any desired instrumentality 31 through the agency of a belt 32 and pulleys 33 and 34, said pulleys being respectively on the shafts of said motor and instrumentality. The pulley 34 on the motor is shown of the known type which expands and contracts in an axial direction for locating the belt at a desired pitch circle of the pulley for speed variation of drive for the pulley of the fixed instrumentality. In general, the motor is representative of a movable or adjustable mechanism.

The present invention resides primarily in the construction of a support 35 for the said mechanism. As shown, a bed 36 is provided to which the fixed instrumentality is secured and to which a fixed portion of the support of the present invention is also secured, it being understood that said bed is representative of any structure such as a floor, table, wall, shelf, ceiling, or the like which will afford relatively fixed mounting for the aforementioned fixed instrumentality and fixed portion of the support.

The fixed portion of the support as herein illustrated comprises two parallel rails 37 the ends of which are made fast to transverse cleats 38 which may conveniently be formed from appropriate lengths of angle iron one flange of which forms a foot resting upon and adapted to be secured to bed 36 and the other flange of which stands perpendicularly and constitutes an end abutment and rigid support for the said rails. The assembly of rails and cleats forms a rectangle of which the cleats will be arbitrarily referred to as at the ends and the rails as at the sides of the rectangular assembly constituting the fixed or basal portion of said support.

Them-ovable portion of the support comprises a carriage 39 having slidable movement longitudinally of the rails, said carriage having gliders at its opposite side margins cooperating with the rails to not only providev rails upon which the balls roll or which laterally confine the balls will be referred to herein as the ball races.

A plurality of 3 The carriage has a limited longitudinal movement, the range. or. amplitude thereof being confined. bywengagement of the ends of the carriage against the upright flange of cleats 38 as stops.

..While the useaof antifrictionmeans, -suchas ball's-in an annular race, is. a matter of com mon-knowledge, it being recognized that the .balls inathat type ofmace have a continuous ;-or..-n on-ending path enabling the unovement to be cyclic so all of the balls can roll without interruption, and therefore. poses noproblern. But in thesupport .of.:.the .present .invention,the pathsof-the balls. is;.-linear, .and hence. the totalamount-of displacement is subject to limitation. It is essential, ,however, that thesballsbefree-to roll, since if. prevented f-rom-rolling,:xthey merely serve asl inert inserts -between the rails and glider and as such would provide literally substan tially; thesame. amount of v iinictionias if the glider: directly-engaged the. rail.

Since the normalndisplacemen-t iof th-e -balls=alongthe rail will. be equal. to .one, halfcf theudisplacement of the, l glider along: the; rail and .in-.the .s=ame 1 direction as the displacement of the glider; andlsince-the displacement of,,the, balls along the: glider will be. equal to one h'alfi the displacement of; the glider, but. in a direction. opposed to h 1.. lifflflifin. .gin .-W;hich nthe glider is. displaced, it is a fieature oi the present invention. to. provide. a suflioient spaceglengthwiseof;therace to enable the. balls to.-roll withouLi-nterruiltion 1 forthe; full a displacement not 1 the glider on the rail between its limiting stops.

Representingps has been :done .in Fig. 6, then-taxi- .snlaseme t-ctt1a glider-by. letter .D, the distance of: placement of the balls..by,rclling .in-the race. will bel-substa t'ally D/2 which is represented: inz Eiga 6 adsd. In order -.to,acconnnodate uninterrupted roiling of the balls for the full movement of .the glider. between:

SlQP M FQde i ati h dis a c be steps y T, halls suffic ient to occupy not more than the distance. of Twfl ei -d) aregplaced ineach race. ;Inclusion,of just enoggh ;.balls =to; occupy thedistance T (D-l-d). would pi ovide the gn aqgimum permissible numberiof, b alls.--.tha t-- I s ed .toroll uninterruptedly and sat-the. same rd H load-carrying cap aci-ty-for the. car- A lesser 'number of balls would of co-urse irethe load carrying capacity and wou1d-.,afford.sup-

PI QY. P f pre ent inventio t preloa the. balls that istosay, the-racedsmade tight ait we he w ltbe a pres re n' isdeith q ad i p t help be Qarricdby t h a W l '9 and. n n me e l lid al n io of the car iage ,both to change-its location n q. hQ d it att -n is ti n; e hi mwwmrri e as Shaw a worm Alt l e end cleats. One end oi the worm is proth., 'a ha "nd wheel or crank 4-2 which constites an o'p'e tihg means and also a meanstonprer al displacement of the worm rearw ard ly iinad rection away from said crank. Theother i id. Pithe. Wj mis .sh' yvap dfi i a t .-w.h s prevents longitudinal displacement of the, worm in the other 01f f:QI- WB.Id direction. Said worm is in thre aded engagementwith like threads in a hole provided tor -the purposein a lug' brjfollower 44 secured to and depend;

gth of the -earriage. ;It; is, fort-hen.

between the rails and with itsends projectin extend along the sides of the rails and further inclusive of li ps A6 .bent inwardly -under -the --rails at the hottem of the depending portions. The inside corners or fillets Where the bends are made to form the glider, conveniently constitute the ball races of the gliders. The halls in each fillet make contact with the surface of the rail at a line of contact of the rail, and after extended usage may wear a groove in the rail along that line of contact, and should that occur, the rail can be loosened, by virtue of being clamped by nuts at its ends, and given a partial rotation to, prevent a new lment-contact to the balls.

It may .beappropriateto note at this; time=that-nieans are preferably provided. touprevent escape of the balls overcomingefiectsof wear, may be mentioned bye-way sections-sot railsiF-igure 8.='illustnates; proposedmseiof,

of example, the-invention is not limited .to that sole cross-- sectional configuration, but is susceptible to employmentiof othersgeometries.

For instance,- in the. realm .of regularpolygon crossa-- ..rail;3.7 of rectangularor. square cross section; Figures 9nandrl0z showmails 37F of hexagonal cross-section havingtdiflerentangular: disposition; Figure =11. shows a rail- 37 .rOf octagonal .cross-seetionyFigttre QlZShflWS. a

-- generally :circular cross-section.sof-rail.with-.three.-longitudinal .groovestiS: therein -.to. apply thrust :tothe .glider pezpendicularlyg'" Figure 11 3 is similarto showing. of Figure 212 except that grooves: 49. .are .providedin; the glider rat-herathan. in the rail 37'; .and Figure -14: shows the :balls in:-the".-fillets andtalso in cooperating grooves: 48- .in. t;he

rail SW.

1111. :ballabeari-ng- .-practice,. hardnessis a vital -factor ,:;the SOftflIZiOfthE .threeselements, namely glider,.=rail .and balls, being; .the..'one2that willashow, wear. i-IHaI'd balls .are easily procured 1-and .present nonproblemain fabrication .ofamy improved support. Solid section rails.-;ovarious .--shap.es inclusive-30f those referred to. above, .as. .well as. others, areeilikewiseireadilysobtainable, and .of .metals .and metal alloys; which-can. bee-readily. annealed: forfabrication operationsiathereon;.and .-whichcan; .beequitenas :easily hardened-for; ILSQ-iII'thG; support. iH'owever,ztheisheetmaterial or .plate .constitutingathe .body ofand-zglider's for.

the carriagepresents a, problem of somewhat moreifdifticultsolution. In sender toaavoid cracks .and-z-checkszin bending the. material, it '.-should i bee-as soft '.-as-.,p.ossible,

f a i w u td irpm th .bcdyi t eLg riato this .ibeingr'. particularly. true in the. larger; sizes. of-tthe invention. utilizing-thick. material. Alloys. which-xcan be haurdeneclbytheat treatment do not-respond (adequately. to annealinguto xthe' degreev of softness required gfpragood bending iofzthev rnetalv when (thick. as. necessary for. some sizespflsupports. GTO ci-rcumventthis condition, a'liner 50.;isrshownin Figure 15, .said :liner. beingof harder and a thinner material thanf the: metal at 1 which --the carriagegbodyzis' formed and of: ahardness commensurate withz'thatnof' thetballst and .rail.

Figures. :16 land 17. :illustrate :the inventive concept as inclusive of nails. which over-lie 'theiglider .ratherr-than as showniniprecedingfigures;.having:the glider overlying orifpartly surrounding therails. "Thus-,in Fign16st-he tail rounded ,beadi along; the sideedgeyor. margin. of thebody 39%;,of; the; carriage. The ,balls 'At]; are; locatednin the fillets at the inner side of the web of the-(pail; nextsthe op; an b ttom fla s nd in. conta -With h z a dbea orl gligieiyof the carriage.

The showing of Fig. 17 utilizes a channel beam;.7i

for the rail with the flanges of the same directed inwardly toward the carriage 39, said carriage having its margin curled to form the glider 51 and the curled margin being reenforced by a cylindrical bar 52. The balls 40 are located in the fillets at the junction of flanges and web of the rail and in contact with the curled margin or glider 51 of the carriage.

As a further possible modification within the purview of the invention, Figure 18 illustrates a carriage body 39 having channels under the side margins thereof and attached thereto, said channels opening outwardly at the side of the carriage and constituting gliders 51 Rails 37 are provided as described previously, said gliders having balls 40 in the fillet corners thereof, and said balls being in contact with the rails.

It is also within the scope of the present invention to provide a glider at one margin only of the carriage and support and operate the carriage at its other margin by the worm. Such a construction is shown in Figure 19 wherein the glider 51 is of generally square cross-section providing four internal fillets or races for balls 40 so that the single glider will hold the carriage from displacement in all directions except longitudinally of rail 37 which has four lines of contact with the four series of balls. Worm 41 is parallel to said rail 37 at the opposite side of the carriage and both supports and operates the carriage through the agency of threaded lug 44.

Means may be provided with all showings of the invention for retaining a lubricant, such as grease, in the ball races and to exclude dust. For clarity, this feature is shown separately in Figures 20 to 22 wherein longitudinal pads 53 of felt or other suitable material are applied in edge contact with the rails toward the opposite sides of the rails from the series of balls and for the full length of the raceways, and end pads 54 in the nature of felt washers are applied at the ends of the raeeways around the rails. These several pads may be retained in place by adhesive attaching the same to the gliders or by any other suitable means.

A modified showing of lubricant-retainer is illustrated in Figures 23 to 25 inclusive wherein the glider is in the form of a channel 51* disposed longitudinally of a rail 37 with the flanges of the channel overlapping the rail. Balls 40 are disposed between the rail and glider as in the previously described constructions. At each end of the glider or channel 51", as a transverse termination thereof, is a rectangular frame 56 welded or otherwise secured to the end face of said channel. This frame has a circular hole 57 therethrough of adequate diameter to freely pass the rail through the frame. The frame has a sufficient thickness to accommodate provision of an annular groove or mortise 58 opening radially inward toward the rail and in this mortise is a felt or other ring 59 that will slide on the rail and seal the opening therearound. A channel-shaped cover 60 extends lengthwise of the glider from one end frame to the other, lapping said frames as well as the flanges of the glider channel and forming therewith a complete enclosure for a lubricant. To assure a good seal of the said closure with the frames and with the glider channels, a gasket 61, which for convenience may be formed as a complete liner for the cover, is shown within the cover and applied so its margins are included between said cover and edges of the frames as well as between the cover and the glider channels. The lubricant is accordingly completely housed and kept in contact with the balls in the races between the glider channel and rail.

Finally it may be mentioned that to avoid any possibility of the lips of the gliders from bending or spreading, tie-bars may be provided and arranged to extend cross-wise of the carriage from the lip of one glider to the lip of the other. As illustrative of this feature, such a tie-bar 55 is shown in Figures 1, 2, 4 to 7, 20 and 21, although equally applicable to all exemplifications of the invention except Figure 19.

While selected modifications have been chosen for specific illustration herein, it is to be understood that the showing is not to be considered exclusive of various other contemplated constructions nor exclusive of the combination of features from two or more of the specific constructions shown or contemplated and within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A support comprising a longitudinal rail of solid cross-section, a glider mounted to move longitudinally of said rail, said glider having portions thereof respectively overlying, underlying and laterally opposing said rail, said glider being shorter than said rail and said rail protruding from both ends of the glider, a support at each protruding end of said rail, the length of the glider being less than the distance between said supports and the distance of longitudinal movement of the glider being less than the length of the rail and of the glider, a plurality of series of balls between said rail and glider and with the balls of each series alined longitudinally of the rail and glider, said rail and glider providing a single continuous raceway for each alined series of balls at the meeting corners between said portions of the glider, said raceways thereby being parallel to each other and at separated locations about the rail, each said raceway having a length materially greater than the summation of the alined diameters of balls included therein, and said balls of each alined series occupying more than half of the length of the length of the single continuous raceway therefor.

2. A support in accordance with claim 1 wherein the said rail is circular in cross-section and the glider is substantially channel-shape providing a race between a corner thereof and the curved surface of said rail, the rail having support at end portions thereof beyond the ends of the glider.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 468,010 Wood Feb. 2, 1892 505,400 Grugin Sept. 19, 1893 681,254 Northway Aug. 27, 1901 1,275,122 Bordeleau Aug. 6, 1918 1,846,019 Bangser Feb. 23, 1932 2,196,892 Berndt Apr. 9, 1940 2,370,048 Koch Feb. 20, 1945 2,422,774 Conner June 24, 1947 2,563,370 Reese Aug. 7, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 37,862 France Nov. 18, 1930 (Addition to No. 614,922) 35,262 France July 16, 1929 (Addition to No. 627,990) 

